2008 Porsche 911 Turbo Convertible 2-door 3.6l on 2040-cars

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Topiary Joe sculpts the ultimate in green cars

Efficient cars are all the rage these days, but Joe Kyte has made a business of crafting some of the coolest green cars around – literally. Kyte is better known by his nickname Topiary Joe, and in addition to being a talented artist, he is also a real gearhead. Kyte has been creating topiaries for the last 20 years. It began when he was marketing greenhouse products to Walt Disney World and saw their plant sculptures. He realized that he could do that and since then, has done around 3,400 pieces. His most intriguing creations are the rolling sculptures that move and turn. Prices for those start at about $18,000 and can be as high as $30,000. While, the wheels are machine-bent, Kyte said all the other parts are done with a table vice and a Lincoln Electric arc welder. Topiary Joe is taking the Porsche (pictured above) to Palm Beach later this year to sell or says he may donate it to Porsche North America. If you really want it, the sculpture is currently on Craigslist for sale for $24,000. Topiary Joe has also had a life-long love of cars. "I was driving my first MG Midget before I was 14," he told Autoblog. He grew up in Oak Ridge, TN, where the Manhattan Project was partially developed. He says the town was full of recent college grads driving Mercedes, and he caught the bug. His automotive mentor was a nuclear physicist who taught him to repair and restore the Mercs. Kyte has completed commissions for Sandals Resort, Dreamworks, Absolut, and many more. Among his favorite creations is the Ferrari that he created at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that is now exhibited at the airport each year before the race. Check out his website for a wider look at his work.

1978 Porsche 930 in Australia spans generations on Petrolicious

Deryck Shakespeare grew up around his father's Porsches, and inherited a white 1978 930 from his uncle just before the relative's death. Now, it looks like the turbocharged coupe might go to Shakespeare's son someday, as this latest video from Petrolicious' highlights a family bond that spans three generations. Shakespeare's Porsche still looks lovely, and it barks a wonderful burble from the exhaust, too. Driving it, however, can be a handful. There're no power steering or electronic aids, and the engine has lots of power and turbo lag. "The technology isn't in the car to cope with the amount of horsepower," he says in the video. Since owning it, Shakespeare and his son have bonded over the Porsche. Deryck plans to hand over the 930 to his boy someday when he's ready to handle this tricky kind of automobile. His son even saves his allowance to upgrade the interior. With that attitude, he should make a great owner someday... just like his dad. Related Video:

Xcar considers the Porsche 911 GT3's PDK

Porsche ruffled some feathers when it unveiled the latest 911 GT3 a couple of years ago with a dual-clutch transmission instead of an old-school manual. The rationale was (and remains) that the PDK makes the enthusiast's Elfen faster than it would be with a stick. The purists scoffed, but Zuffenhausen held firm – and even did the same with the even more hardcore GT3 RS. In its latest video, the boys at Xcar set out to find out if the GT3 with its fancy automated gearbox is as good as the previous model (or as good as the current model could be) with a manual – and took in some of the track toy's other trickery while they were at it. Check out the video above to find out what conclusion they reached.